This vibrant orange and pomegranate mocktail is a bright and refreshing balance of sweet, tart and tangy flavors with a gorgeous color. The honey simple syrup made with fresh rosemary, thyme and ginger adds a subtle herbal warmth to the crisp, citrus flavors.
Orange & Pomegranate Mocktail – Good to Know
- Key Flavors:
- Sweet-tart citrus base, gentle gingery-warmth & woodsy-herbs
- Alcohol or Non Alcoholic?
- It’s a non-alcoholic drink, but you can certainly booze it up with a shot of clear liquor like vodka, gin or tequila. You can also replace the carbonated water with Champagne or prosecco.
- Time Needed:
- About 20 minutes to steep & strain the herby syrup and a couple minutes to mix everything else together.
- Yield:
- Recipe includes instruction to make 1 serving and 1 pitcher full (6-8 servings). The simple syrup makes about 165ml which is enough to sweeten about 6-12 glasses depending on how sweet you want it.
- Best Time to Enjoy:
- You can easily make this anytime of year, but pomegranate is known as the jewel of winter, making this a great festive drink to enjoy during the holiday season as a Christmas mocktail, Thanksgiving dinner or New Years Eve celebrations.
How to Make Your Own Honeyed Herbal Orange & Pomegranate Mocktail
- First things first – make the honey simple syrup. In this case, you’re essentially going to make a very concentrated tea which you’ll then sweeten with honey after steeping.
- Then, you just need to combine everything except the fizzy water in a cocktail shaker with ice to shake until muddled and chilled.
- Finally, pour into a prepared glass full of ice. Top up with some bubbly water and enjoy.
- Garnish (optional) with fresh fruit, pomegranate seeds, orange, lemon or lime wedges and fresh herbs.
Bite-Sized Steps with Pictures
Make a herby ginger tea: Cover fresh herbs, orange peel & a ginger tea bag (or fresh ginger root) with boiling hot water.
Cover & steep: Cover the pot, mug or container with a lid to trap the aromatic compounds. Let the water steep about 15-20 minutes.
Strain: Pour the water through a fine mesh strainer to strain out the whole herbs & tea.
Add honey (or maple): Stir in your sweetener while the water is still warm until the maple/honey fully dissolves.
Shake & Chill: Add the fruit juice, ice and herbs + orange peel to a cocktail shaker and shake until chilled & combined.
Top up: Pour into a cocktail glass filled with ice and add sparkling water or tonic water until filled to the top. Add fresh herb & fruit garnishes, if you like.
↳FYI: Tonic Water vs Sparkling Water:
- Tonic water has a noticeable bitter flavor thanks to its quinine content and includes sweetener to tone down the bitterness. It’s what’s often used to make other cocktails like the classic gin & tonic.
- Sparkling water is plain, carbonated water. Sometime it might include added minerals like sodium-bicarbonate for flavor (soda water).
- Use whichever you prefer. If you like a slight bitterness to tone down the sweetness of the juices & syrup, use tonic water. If you want the carbonated water without the extra flavor use sparking water.
- You can also soda or sparkling juice like sprite, ginger ale, white grape juice, sparkling apple cider, etc if you want to lean into the sweetness even more.
More Festive Holiday Drinks
Check out some of my other mocktail recipes!
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this herby orange & pomegranate mocktail recipe! Leave a comment and review with your thoughts. I always appreciate the feedback and serving suggestions that you come up with!
Recipe
Honeyed Herbal Orange & Pomegranate Mocktail Recipe
Yield:
1 drink or 1 pitcher
Prep Time:
25 minutes
Total Time:
5 minutes
Orange and pomegranate juice sweetened with a rosemary, thyme, and ginger-honey syrup. It's bright, slightly herbal and super refreshing!
Ingredients
Simple Syrup
- 10 fresh thyme and/or rosemary sprigs
- 1 ginger tea bag or 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
- ½ inch piece of fresh orange or lemon peel
- ⅓ cup water (80ml)
- ¼ cup honey, maple syrup or agave (85g)
One Drink
- 2 oz unsweetened pomegranate juice (¼ cup | 60ml)
- 2 oz unsweetened orange juice (¼ cup | 60ml)
- ½-1 oz simple syrup (1-2 tbsp | 15-30ml) - sweeten to taste
- 2 oz sparkling water or tonic water (¼ cup | 60ml)
- ice for serving
One Pitcher (48 ounce)
- 12 oz unsweetened pomegranate juice (1 ½ cup | 360ml)
- 12 oz unsweetened orange juice (1 ½ cup | 360ml)
- 3-6 oz simple syrup, sweeten to taste
- 12 oz sparkling water or tonic water (1 ½ cup | 360ml)
- ice for serving
Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.
Instructions
Simple Syrup
- Make an herbal tea: Add thyme, ginger and citrus peel to a heat-safe mug, container, french press or small pot. Pour boiling water over the top (boil in a kettle or on the stovetop). Cover lightly with a lid (make a foil lid if needed) and set aside to brew & cool, about 15-20 minutes.
- Strain: Strain out the thyme, ginger & citrus peel. Discard or add them to a cocktail shaker to get a bit more flavor out of them later.
- Sweeten: Stir in the honey until dissolved. This is best done when the water is still a little warm.
- Store: If you plan on making a pitcher, set aside the simple syrup until you're ready to mix. For individual drinks, transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge 1-2 weeks.
One Drink
- In a cocktail shaker: add ice, pomegranate juice, orange juice, honey syrup, orange or lemon peel, and fresh thyme. Cover and shake well to muddle, mix and chill the juices.
- Pour: Strain and pour the mixed juice into an 8-10 oz glass about halfway full of ice. Add fruit/herb garnishes if desired then top up with your preferred carbonated water or soda and enjoy.
Pitcher
- Combine: Add pomegranate juice, orange juice, syrup and sparkling water or tonic water to a large pitcher (about 48oz). Stir everything together to combine. Add fresh orange slices, pomegranate arils and herbs to the pitcher for decoration if desired. Serve in glass filled with ice when you're ready.
- Note about pepping ahead: You can combine the pom juice, orange juice and simple syrup ahead of time, but I recommend you wait to add the bubbly water until just before serving so it doesn't go flat.
Notes
- Simple Syrup Yield: The syrup makes just under 6 oz (165g). To sweeten a whole pitcher, use about half of the amount to the full amount of syrup depending on how sweet you want it. Use 1-2 tbsp to sweeten individual drinks (6-12 servings).
- No cocktail shaker: You can mix everything directly in the glass, but I recommend you add the ice at the end to leave room for stirring. Or just mix in another glass/jar and pour into your prepared drinking glass.
- Make it Vegan: Use maple syrup or agave syrup - not honey.
- Feel free to use sprite, ginger ale or ginger beer in place of tonic/sparkling water if you prefer. If you do use soda, I recommend you go light on the added syrup - use ½ oz instead of 1 oz in individual servings and 3 oz instead of 6 oz for a pitcher.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size:
7 oz Calories: 99This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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